


I Know the Sound (Of Your Heart)

by ghostlywhitedirewolf



Series: Bethyl Smut Series [1]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, First Time, Fluff and Smut, Loss of Virginity, Multiple Orgasms, Mutual Masturbation, Smut, Vaginal Fingering, idk what to tag as
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-14
Updated: 2016-04-14
Packaged: 2018-06-02 06:44:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6555793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostlywhitedirewolf/pseuds/ghostlywhitedirewolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Please don’t let me die a virgin.”</p>
<p>After a close call with a herd of walkers, Beth asks Daryl for a favor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Know the Sound (Of Your Heart)

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this to chill myself out after stress driving for five hours until my car ran out of gas. Sorry not sorry. This series will essentially be a load of smutty one-shots. There’s no time scale and I’m literally going to just play it by ear with how many I write. It's also my first attempt at Bethyl and writing for TWD in general.
> 
> Huge, huge thanks to Nikki (exoticdeviance) for her beta-ing and general cheerleading - you're the best <3
> 
> If you have any smut!prompts that you want filling, let my know on my tumblr: ghostlywhitedirewolf.
> 
> Come and say hello to me on my tumblr: [ghostlywhitedirewolf](http://ghostlywhitedirewolf.tumblr.com/)  
> Quick note: This is a one-shot, please subscribe to the series or my account rather than this individual fic if you would like to read more of my writing.

-o-

Daryl felt the way her tiny chest rose and fell rapidly as she struggled to catch a breath, blood covering her arms, soaking into the yellow shirt she was wearing.

They were surrounded by dead walkers, having barely made it out alive. He hadn’t expected to walk straight into the herd, only seeing one or two at first, but the sound of their fighting had been like a siren call for nearly thirty more.  
  
Daryl wasn’t sure how they’d survived unscathed, but they had, collapsing onto the ground as soon as the last walker fell. Both of them knowing that they should really be running, but they couldn’t, the sheer relief causing him to pull her towards his body, scanning her for bites and scratches despite her weak cries that she was fine.

At one point he’d seen her go down, tripped by a dead walker and he’d thought his heart would stop, but then the walker on top of her had gone still and she’d dragged herself back to her feet, desperately trying to fight her way back over to him.

She was like a goddess when she fought, a gawky one, but a goddess nonetheless. All long legs and blonde hair, unruly grace contrasting with the deadliness of her blows. She was no longer the frightened teenager who had fled the prison with him, months on the road transforming her into a fighter. She’d always been mentally strong, especially after her half-assed suicide attempt, but physically she’d been lacking. Uneducated flailing instead of precise attacks. Now her sparring and tracking was almost as good as his.

“We gotta go, Daryl,” she gasped, repeating the words he’d spoken to her back at the prison and pulling gently at his hand as she stood, handing him his crossbow.

Daryl nodded, obediently following her out of the clearing that had almost become their graveyard.

They didn’t speak for a while, neither knowing what to say but Daryl couldn’t help noticing the frown lines on Beth’s face and the way she would turn to him every so often, as though trying to say something, before her face went red and she returned her gaze to the floor.

“Girl, spit it out,” he half growled, not knowing what the problem was, but unable to hold in the tension her confused silence was causing him. She’d always been vocal, never one to hold her tongue, especially around him.

_I know you look at me and you just see another dead girl._

_It’s bullshit._

He couldn’t remember the last time he’d cried in front of anyone before her. She hadn’t judged him, just held him in his guilt and pain, head pressed between his shoulder blades, over the worst of his scars. And for that moment he’d felt lighter for it, someone else holding him together instead of him juggling the pieces of his being, trying to stay strong.

He’d been stoic for too long before that day. Alcohol and something that was purely _her_ opening up the gaping wounds he’d tried so hard to stitch together and allowing him to finally share his agony.

“We could have died back there,” she replied, her voice unusually quiet.

He frowned at the obvious statement, opening his mouth to reply but stopping when she shook her head. “I know that’s stupid because we could die any time. But back there, when the walker came down on top of me, I honestly thought I was done. Dying has never scared me, but there’s so much I want to do and I thought that I’d never get to do even the most basic things.”

“Like what?” Daryl asked, unsure of what she could mean by _basic things._ Nothing was simple in this new world they’d found themselves trapped in.

She flushed again and he couldn’t help but smirk at her obvious discomfort, feeling the tables turn, her usually the one making _him_ uncomfortable with her prying. He had no wish to upset her, knowing that if she told him to stop he would without question.

“Like have sex.”

Well, _shit._

Daryl felt himself flush and cursed his momentary rush of confidence at being able to embarrass her into the admission. He knew that she’d dated guys back at the prison, hell she’d had a boyfriend back at the farm. How hadn’t she had sex with them then? 

_It’s like a damn romance novel._

“You mean you never–”

“No Daryl, I never slept with Zach or Jimmy,” she sounded exasperated, refusing to look at him for fear that he was mocking her. “I know, I’m stupid and sentimental and maybe that’s my problem but it just never felt like the right time. I never felt ready.”

“ _Girl_ ,” Daryl mumbled, reaching out to touch her arm gently in a silent apology for not knowing what to say to her. He never knew what to say to her and that was half his problem. Emotions weren’t something his background had ever allowed him to have.

He thought back to the time he’d lost his virginity. A motel room and a girl that Merle knew. It hadn’t lasted long and it hadn’t been good. She’d taken the lead, knowing what to do to get both of them off, but it had been weird, _awkward._ He’d fumbled with the condom and she’d laughed.

Daryl had slept with more women since then, he knew the logistics, knew how to make it good for them, but it had always been rough and quick. Never gentle and loving, like he knew her first time should be. She’d find someone eventually who could give that to her and he’d keep her alive until she could get what she wanted. Beth was beautiful, hell, she was perfect. He knew how smooth her skin felt like under his calloused fingertips, unblemished and pale, yet warm and alive. He knew how hot he felt whenever she touched him, even the most casual of gestures sending ripples of fire through his veins.

Daryl had never been the jealous type, and he certainly hadn’t been jealous of Zach. But he remembered catching a glimpse of them making out on the field whilst he was on watch in the tower, the inexperienced boy’s hands rough and demanding and he’d thought she deserved better than that.

He felt her sigh under his hand, shoulders slumping as she moved closer to him. “I don’t want to wait any more Daryl.”

Finally she turned to look at him and something curled low in his stomach at the expression on her face, though he couldn’t pinpoint exactly what the feeling was.

_Fear? Dread? Lust?_ Daryl wasn’t sure, but the way she was looking at him, he knew she wanted the one thing he couldn’t give to her. 

“Please Daryl.”

He shook his head, stepping away from her. “It ain’ right. Beth, I –  I can’t.” 

Daryl saw her face fall, saw her nose scrunch in the way she always did when she was trying not to cry. He knew her, every part of her, just as she knew him. He’d seen her at her strongest and her weakest, sick and snuffling when the nights had grown cold and she’d wrapped her tiny body around his for warmth. She’d seen his scars, knew the history of him and his father, seen him weak. Hell, they’d seen each other naked before, their time on the road not allowing them the gift of privacy, but he’d always forced down anything he’d felt in those moments. She deserved better than some dirty redneck old enough to be her daddy.

She wasn’t a kid, he knew that. The box of pads she’d asked him for at the beginning of their time at the prison was proof enough of that. It had been embarrassing for both of them, him running a hand over the back of his head, telling her he’d already gotten some stuff for that on his last run, and her bright red, telling him that she was allergic to tampons and needed the actual pads.

He hadn’t noticed it being a problem of late and assumed she’d been finding them when they had raided shops for supplies.

They’d looked after each other in every way possible, but he couldn’t do this for her. He couldn’t take away the last of her innocence, not even at her request because he wasn’t sure he could do it right. She deserved more than him. 

Daryl knew that he loved her. Her the only light in this whole goddamn black world. He needed her, needed to hold onto the person that he was when he was with her. No one had ever understood and accepted him like she had, meeting every part of him with resilience and compassion.

He wouldn’t, _couldn’t,_ taint that by fucking this up.

“Why ain’t it right?” Her voice was painfully soft and it sliced right through him.

“I’m old enough to be your daddy, girl.”

“That don’t matter to me.”

“It should. You should be waitin’ for someone good, someone who can do it right. Not throwin’ yourself at someone close just ‘cuz you’re afraid.”

She flinched as though he’d slapped her and Daryl could have groaned out load.

“You don’t have to be an asshole about it,” she snapped. “You ever think that I’m asking you because I trust you, because I did wait for someone good and maybe you’re it? Well forget it, Daryl. Forget I said anything.”

“Beth–” he started, cut off by the fierceness of the glare she shot his way.

“We need to find somewhere to sleep tonight. I think there’s some cabins up there,” She snapped and Daryl exhaled through his nose, long and slow, taking the hint.

End of discussion.

Except that he knew it wasn’t. She never let things go so easily, especially when she was mad at him.

 

-o-

 

She’d been right, there were cabins up here. Only two, but they stood undamaged and undisturbed by both the living and the dead. 

Once they’d checked through them for walkers and any signs that someone might be living there and set up the customary noise hangings around the perimeter, Beth unceremoniously dumped her backpack onto the table of the cabin they were currently stood in, moving to lock all of the doors, her arm brushing past him as though he wasn’t even there.

He sighed again, rubbing at his temple before collapsing down onto the nearby sofa, feet hanging over the arm of the chair. Daryl knew what she wanted from him, she’d been vulnerable and he’d insulted her.

“Beth,” he called out gently, hearing her footsteps stopping out in the hallway, but she didn’t come any closer. “Beth, c’mon.”

“What Daryl?” She asked sharply, appearing before him, arms crossed and eyebrows raised.

He sat up, crossing his legs in front of him and motioning tiredly for her to sit down. “Just hear me out okay?”

A flicker of anger passed across her face and for a second Daryl wondered if she would tell him to go to hell, but this was Beth and he knew better. After a long moment, he saw her features soften and she pushed off her boots before sitting down with her back against the chair arm facing him, knees pulled up to her chest as though in defence. 

“Girl, I didn’t say what I said to be cruel. Your first time should be special,” he started, not sure where he was going with it, but knowing he had to try. “M’sorry if I upset you, but you can’t ask this o’ me okay? I’m nearly twice your age, it’d be takin’ advantage.”

He looked down at his hands, hair falling over his eyes, knowing that if he looked at her face he’d be sunk. He wanted this, he wanted _her._ But he couldn’t have it. What would her family think, what would her daddy have thought if he were here to see the man he’d trusted wishing he could take the virtue of his youngest daughter?

“But I asked you to, you wouldn’t be takin’ advantage and I already said that I don’t care about the age difference,” Beth countered, leaning forward to cover Daryl’s hand with her own. Her palm was hot, but clean and he wasn’t sure when she’d wiped the blood off of her skin, but it was clear. “Daryl, we could die at any time. I just want to know what it’s like. I know you think you’d hurt me, but you wouldn’t. I know you’ve had sex before all this happened, I heard you talk about it once when one of the guys asked you why you weren’t fuckin’ anyone back at the prison.”

“Beth you should want it to be someone you love, someone who can be gentle, who’s _good_.” He hated how rough his voice had gotten, betraying the emotions he was feeling.

God, he knew that he loved her. He did want her, but it was like that unrequited love in those goddamn romance movies Merle used to watch when there was nothing else on the TV.

He knew what Merle would say if he could see them now. _Just fuck the girl, don’t be a pussy and show her a good time Darylina. What you waiting for?_

But he wasn’t Merle.

“Maybe that’s why I’m asking _you,_ Daryl. I’m not saying we love each other like that, all rainbows and fireworks, but I do love you Daryl Dixon and I think you love me too. We’re partners right? You said yourself, we might never see our family again, we might be the last two people on this whole earth. Even if we’re not, it might not be a walker that gets me. It could be someone we meet on the road who’s not as nice as you are.” Beth lowered her head, forcing him to meet her eyes.

He knew what she was implying. There weren’t many times in this life that she would be able to control what happened to her, but this was one of them. She could choose _when_ and _who,_ rather than having it taken from her.

“I know you can be gentle, Daryl. You’re always gentle with me unless I ask you not to be. You’ve always looked after me, taught me to protect myself, how to take care of myself even without you there. I know I’m askin’ a lot of you, but I am askin’. You’re no creep and you ain’t takin’ advantage. You are good and I know you won’t hurt me. I’m not askin’ for candles and mood music, I just want you.” Beth finished, pressing her nose into his hair. “Please don’t let me die a virgin.”

He knew she felt his soft exhale because one of her hands came up to up his jaw, touch feather light as she tilted his head to look at her, the press of her lips against his so soft that he wondered if he’d imagined it.

“Thank you, Daryl.” He didn’t know how she knew he’d given in, but she did and that was all that mattered, he wasn’t sure he’d have been able to find the right words to agree anyway.

“Girl, I don’ even have anythin’ –  you know.”

“It don’ matter, I ain’t had a period for a while now. I guess bein’ on the road all this time takes its toll.” Her breath curled around his face and he nodded, still frozen in place as she moved closer. An internal war still raging inside him as he looked at her, all pale innocence and smooth edges. Soft blue eyes looking at him like he’d hung the moon.

“Oh.”

“So we don’ need to worry about that, I ain’t gonna get pregnant.”

He nodded again, words failing him and he stood quickly, the movement shocking her. “We should eat somethin’, finish getting this cabin secured before it goes dark.”

“Yeah,” she nodded amicably, still confused, but willing to follow his lead.

 

-o-

 

She was silent whilst they ate, a can of beans that they’d found in one of the cupboards followed by a soggy granola bar, a few months out of date, but somehow still edible. 

He’d found a few blankets and the couch was a pullout. The double bed had been a disappointment, it had been stripped down and the window left slight ajar, so the mattress was covered in mold, but the sofa bed was still by far the comfiest thing they’d slept on in months. Both of them sinking back onto it gratefully, Daryl sat up against the back and Beth settled between his legs, leaning up against his chest, her head tucked under his chin; the position their usual one, allowing one of them to remain on watch whilst the other slept. But Daryl could feel the tension in Beth’s body.

He felt the hitch of her breath when he ran his fingertips up and down her back softly, seeing goose pimples rise on her arms without him having even made contact with her skin. 

_Shit._

Her head twisted to glance up at him, her ponytail tickling the skin of his upper arm, eyes patient but unsure, waiting for him to make the first move.

“Girl, are you sure?” His fingertips found the skin of her hip where her shirt had ridden up, drawing comforting circles there without conscious thought.

“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life, Daryl,” she told him, shifting in his arms to sit up on her knees, her hands resting lightly on his chest.

“You want me to stop at any time, you say the word and I will. You don’t owe me nothin’ and I won’t force ya t’carry on. Ya hear me? It don’ matter how far gone we are, if it gets too much, you have’ta tell me, girl,” Daryl said, feeling her thigh pressing against him, causing his dick to stir in his pants.

“I will, I swear.”

Daryl allowed his eyes to roam over her quickly, taking in her tiny form and her bloody shirt. She wasn’t a kid, she was _Beth._ She hadn’t judged him for anything in the past and he knew that she wouldn’t now. 

He nodded once before leaning in to press their lips together, feeling his heart pounding when she returned the kiss vehemently, hands cupping his cheeks to pull him closer, all traces of her previous nervousness fading away.

This she was familiar with, this she knew.

Her hands slid down his neck, unbuttoning the clasps there to reveal his chest at the same time as his hands cupped one breast through her t-shirt, feeling her hardening nipple through the material and her bra, small, but large enough to fit comfortable in his palm. She made a small noise of pleasure when he squeezed gently, testing the waters and wondering how he’d ever got so lucky.

Beth arched her back, pushing herself into his hands before dragging her shirt over her head, hands moving to the clasp of her bra, only stopping when he gently took hold of her wrists.

“Girl, slow down, we got all night.”

His voice was low and husky and she flushed again, colour spreading down her neck. Daryl didn’t think she’d ever looked as radiant. He released her hands, guiding them back to his chest as he slid his own up to the clasp on her bra, ridding her of it before sealing their mouths together once again. 

She shuddered when he ran calloused fingers over her stomach, enjoying the feeling of the smooth skin there before finally returning his hands to where she wanted them, skimming the underside of her breast with his fingernails before capturing one of her nipples between his thumb and forefinger. She inhaled quickly against his mouth and he chuckled when she pressed herself against him, her body hovering above him and allowing easy access for him to break contact with her lips, slotting his mouth over her other nipple.

This time she moaned, arms tightening around his neck and lips pressing insistently into the side of his neck, the vibrations going straight to his cock and the sensations of her hot lips at _that_ spot beneath his ear feeling as though it might fry his brain.

His free arm snaked around her back, pulling her almost impossibly closer, groaning when her hips unwittingly pressed against his length and he nipped lightly at her breast.

“ _Daryl,”_ she breathed, hands fisting into his hair and giving him a hard tug to bring his head back up to hers.

Beth almost cried out in disappointment when his hand left her breast, he felt the ensuing whimper against his mouth but ignored it in favour of continuing south with his hands, finding the button of her jeans and making light work of it and her zipper, granting him easy access to the worn cotton panties beneath. She didn’t tense when he started to peel the jeans down her thighs, eyes connecting with his and not wavering, even when she spread her legs to assist him, kicking them the last of the way with a small grunt of satisfaction when they fell to the floor with a heavy slap.

He could feel her through the panties and for a moment Daryl thought he might come before they even managed to get anywhere, his cock straining at his jeans. One finger ran the length of her covered slit and the breathy _please_ it elicited was enough for him to forgo any teasing and slip his fingers inside the front of her panties, running them through the soft curls of her pubic hair and down into her wetness.

“This okay?” He couldn’t help but ask when her hips rose slightly, unsure if it was surprise or hesitation.

“This is more than okay,” she said, voice low and throaty, a tone he’d never heard from her mouth before and for a second he allowed himself to wonder what she’d sound like whispering dirty things to him.

He found her clit quickly, circling it for a second just to hear her breath catch in her throat at the sensation before he moved down, fingers trailing to her entrance and back up again, spreading the wetness that had begun to gather there. Daryl smiled when he felt her move above him, legs spreading automatically as her knees came down either side of his thighs to allow him better access.

_Fuck, she was perfect._

Her eyes were wide, pupils dilated and she was beginning to pant as his rough thumb pressed against her clit, rubbing it in smooth circular motions, trying to find her rhythm. Daryl wasn’t sure if she’d ever gotten herself off before, and the way her hips stuttered under his ministrations, he didn’t think she had. Gradually he felt her relax and, keeping up the movement of his thumb, he slowly slipped a finger inside her.

Beth tensed and he paused, but she quickly shook her head. “I’m okay, just feels weird.”

Daryl could feel her walls constricting and relaxing around his finger as she adjusted. He ran his other hand up her back, repeating the comforting gesture from earlier, waiting until her movements stilled before he began to move his finger in the same rhythm as his thumb, a breathy _good girl_ , whispered in her ear.

Beth’s eyes fluttered closed and she moaned freely, drawing a smile from Daryl as he gently added a second finger, this time the intrusion was met without resistance, her hips lowering to allow him to push his fingers deeper inside of her, the movement grinding herself onto his aching cock, drawing a satisfied hiss from his own mouth at the spark of pleasure.

He’d never experienced anything like this, his usual sexual encounters quick and messy rather than focused and precise. Daryl liked to think that the women he’d shared them with had always gotten off, but nothing had ever come close to the view of Beth Greene writhing above him, lungs exhaling in heavy pants, her smell heady and intoxicating, wrapping around him, filling him. Even if he didn’t get off, Daryl was convinced he’d still be satisfied with just her pleasure.

He could feel her getting closer, hands clenched in his shirt and her head crushed into the crook of his neck, small noises escaping with every exhale, small gasps of his name, or pleading for more. 

Fuck she was so wet. 

The groan she emitted when he slid a third finger inside her could only be described as guttural, her legs shaking as she struggled to hold herself up, her cries becoming ragged and uncontrolled as he increased his pace.

“Fuck, Daryl, please. Oh shit, please,” he heard her almost sob and he obliged, pressing down hard onto her clit and forcing her over the edge, relishing in the way her mouth opened with a small _oh_ as she fell. Her walls constricted around his fingers and her body slumped forward, spasming as his fingers guided her through it.

_Not a screamer then_ , Daryl thought lightly, slipping his fingers out of her when her hand pushed at his, a silent plea that it was too much.

“Fuck, Beth,” he groaned, bringing his fingers to his mouth to clean them off, marvelling at the way her eyes darkened when his tongue darted out to lick at her juices.

She leaned back, hands moving to the fly of his jeans to release the erection he knew she could feel pressing against her backside, waiting for him to lift his hips before she pulled his jeans and boxers down in one impatient action.

Her eyes swept over him and not for the first time that night he found himself wondering if this was another thing she’d never experienced, had she ever seen one up close before, especially hard?

Maybe she had, he couldn’t tell that time but he didn’t give her the chance, smirking at her small squeal as he flipped them over, pushing her back against the mattress.

“Asshole.”

“You okay?” He asked, shucking his shirt and vest off and running his hands down the length of her body until he found the edge of her soaked panties.

When she nodded, he hooked his fingers under them and pulled them off, marvelling at finally having her naked. She was beautiful, all pale, radiant skin, her hair having come loose at some point, splaying around her head and shoulders as though she were an angel.

Daryl thought she might be.

He almost jumped when her hand came up to grasp at his neck, pulling his mouth down to hers, surprised at her boldness but happy that she’d loosened up and relaxed enough to feel comfortable enough to start showing him what she wanted.

Cautiously, he felt her hand slide down his chest to wrap around his cock. Her movements were hesitant when she started to slide it along his length and after a few strokes, he took pity on her, covering her hand gently with his own and setting a rhythm.

Beth smiled gratefully, watching him as his face contorted and it was her turn to view his ecstasy, but it was short lived. After a few more strokes, he nudged her hand away, it had been too long since he’d done that to last if she kept it up. The feeling of her small hand around him was almost too much and he really didn’t want it to be over before they’d even started.

“I’m too close,” he said, pressing a chaste kiss to her lips when she frowned, eyes questioning as though she thought she’d done something wrong. “You’re so perfect, Beth.”

The girl beneath him flushed, allowing herself to be manoeuvred as he lined himself up, running the head of his cock up and down her wetness, searching her face for an affirmative before he moved.

“ _Please.”_ The word was almost like a prayer and it was all Daryl needed to start to push inside slowly. 

She gasped at the feeling, at the stretch, her hand flying to his abdomen to slow his movements, letting up when she adjusted to his size and pushing again when the burn became too much. She was so tight, Daryl thought he might come then and there. It took all the strength he had not to thrust his hips forward into her.

The hand around the back of his neck was gripping him so tightly he was positive there would be nail marks left and he almost pulled out, wondering if he was hurting her. But then his pelvis met her thighs and she let out a low moan.

For a moment both of them froze, but then he felt her hips move against his, her mouth opening and closing before she gasped out, “Move. Please move.”

Angling his hips in a shallow thrust, Daryl marvelled at the small cry that escaped from her mouth.

Maybe he would be able to make her scream after all.

“Oh, fuck.” She whimpered, eyes rolling back as he set a rhythm, starting to withdraw fully and push back into her with increasing intensity once he was certain that he wasn’t hurting her.

“God Beth, shit you feel amazing.” Daryl breathed, unable to stop himself as he pulled her hips up slightly, giving him better access as his thrusts hardened, spurred on by her cries. Beth’s hands found his back, raking her fingernails downwards, trying to anchor herself in the perfect agony of his actions. Keeping his hold on her hip with one hand, he reclaimed her clit with the other, relishing the stuttering of her breathing and the ensuing moan.

She was close, he could feel it and he increased his pace, angling his cock and finding her sweet spot, loving the way she begged.

_Don’t stop, oh fuck please don’t stop. Oh god, Daryl. Fuck, please, please._

He saw her body go rigid as a ragged cry was ripped from her, not quite a scream, but something so completely _her_ that when mixed with the tightening of her walls around his cock sent him spiralling into oblivion too. Hips stuttering as he came inside of her, riding out both of their orgasms until they were both spent.

Daryl didn’t think he’d ever felt as good as in that moment. No one had ever come close to the depth of feeling he’d experienced in that moment. She was glorious beneath him, panting and pulling him down on top of her, spreading her legs wider to accommodate him without losing the connection of his cock inside her. 

“Thank you, Daryl.” She breathed, pressing a kiss to his ear and allowing him to roll them onto their sides, both just lying there for a moment, allowing each other to come down from their high slowly, savouring every moment.

Daryl came to first, pulling out slowly, muttering an apology when she winced at the sensation. He knew she’d be sore in the morning, but she didn’t have to be sticky and gross along with it. There was a rag on the side and he poured a little water from his water bottle onto it, cleaning them both up before covering them with a blanket, pulling her still limp form into his arms. Beth’s head fell against his chest and she let out a small giggle.

“Girl, you okay?” Daryl asked, ducking his head to examine her face.

“I’m perfect, that was amazing. You were perfect. Thank you.” She pressed her face into his chest, eyes already closing. “I didn’t realise it would feel so incredible.”

Daryl smiled at her, a warm feeling blossoming through his chest at her words and he settled them both back against the pillows, glad that despite his doubts, he’d been able to make it good for her. Looking down at her, half asleep, pliant and trusting under his hands, he didn’t think he’d ever felt so alive. No matter what happened to them, he had this. She had allowed them this and he would be forever grateful to her. To the tiny, forceful, strong, _perfect_ being wrapped around him, like he was a lifeline.

He’d always thought that Beth Greene would be his undoing, but he hadn’t considered that she might also be his saviour, his shield from the brutality of their new world.

She was everything and Daryl knew that he would go to the ends of the earth to keep this little piece of paradise by his side.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you thought :)
> 
> Come and say hello to me on my tumblr: [ghostlywhitedirewolf](http://ghostlywhitedirewolf.tumblr.com/)  
> 


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